Alex Mitchell: England scrum half excited for Saints reunion with Fin Smith in Champions Cup
Yesterday at 06:29 AM
Northampton Saints are vying to end a three match losing run, as they welcome Clermont Auvergne to Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night. It’s a must win match for the Saints, as the Investec Champions Cup enters the knock-out stages in this Round of 16 clash.
The defending Premiership champions started their recent losing run began in the quarter-finals of the Premiership Rugby Cup, as the men in green, black and gold were dumped out of the tournament by Ealing Trailfinders. The dip in form then plummeted, as Northampton succumbed to a 33-0 derby defeat to Leicester Tigers, before a closer loss last time out to Sale Sharks (27-24).
Scrum half Alex Mitchell is eager to bring that winning feeling back to the Gardens, with a massive European Cup knock-out match kicking off tomorrow evening.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated after Leicester not really putting a performance out there, especially on derby Day. But, I think we got a half decent performance in against Sale. It’s a tough place to go. They were fully loaded, and I think that another five minutes on the end of that game, we probably would have turned them over. We’ve not won there since I think 2017 so, the boys hung in there and did a very decent job with a disjointed team. That performance, we’ll try and take into this week.
“It’s just huge game (against Clermont), and it’s one of them where we want to try and impose our game and entertain the crowd. Like I said, I always love and playing in cup rugby. So it’s going to be exciting game. First of all, I think first 20 minutes, we’ve got to go after them, don’t let them get too much confidence in the game, and then go from there.”
It was an interesting return to club duties for Mitchell last weekend, as Northampton traveled up to Sale without a regular fly half in their ranks. Fin Smith was ordered into an obligatory rest period following the 2025 Six Nations, with injuries to George Makepeace-Cubitt, Charlie Savala and Rory Hutchinson thinning out the ranks for Northampton’s 10 jersey.
Thankfully, regular scrum half Tom James stepped up to the mantle in an unorthodox positional switch, with Mitchell taking up the kicking duties off the tee.
“I don’t think we’ve ever done that before. It was something different, we were struggling with the injury front at fly half, which is weird how it turned out to be that week, we had literally no 10s available. But obviously TJ (Tom James) steps up. I thought he did an awesome job, and we tried to look after that the best we could. We nearly actually did a job on the Sale boys, on Gus Warr and George Ford, which would have been quite funny, but we didn’t in the end.
“I didn’t mind stepping up and doing the kicking duties. I’ve done it a couple of times before if Fin’s (Smith) got a yellow card or whatnot. It’s an extra thing to think about, but it’s more than just the kicking in the week. My groin and quad started to hang off in the week, so I was struggling on that front. Doing double kicking sessions every day, it’s something you’re not used to, but I didn’t mind it. 50%, I missed a few kicks, but it’s not my day job, so I’ll leave that to Fin next time!”
Mitchell and Smith have steadily become the go-to halfback pairing for England, with Steve Borthwick selecting the Northampton Saints duo to lead in the latest four matches of the 2025 Six Nations. However, a lengthy spell on the side-lines for Mitchell due to a neck injury, and Autumn England camp involvements for Smith, has limited their club appearances alongside one-another to just three matches this season.
“Someone actually told me that the other day.” Mitchell added. “I thought, that was quite mad, but I had a bit of a layover the start of the season, and it’s just not really aligned the same game you want to play in, which is obviously tough. you You want us to play in as many games together as possible. But sometimes that’s just how the season goes.
“I think it’s been inconsistent. We’ve struggled with injuries throughout. So that’s where we’ve not had a great run of form, as you’d say. We’re still playing together this weekend, so that should be fun.”
“To have that link up, that cohesion in the England team, was massive for us. I think it really helped.”
“A long old campaign the Six Nations, isn’t it, but it’s really enjoyable. I think we did a decent at the start the campaign. A lot of people thought we wouldn’t get top three or whatnot, and we managed to sneak in second and nearly win the thing. So on that front, a really enjoyable campaign. It’s good to come back, I got a little week off straight after the Six Nations, but it’s good to finally come back home and see the boys again, which I really enjoyed.”
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